


House of Strays

by Lady_Therion



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: A Monthly Rumbelling, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2018-07-11 08:25:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7040710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Therion/pseuds/Lady_Therion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of little one shot ficlets written for "A Monthly Rumbelling."</p><p>Wherein Belle and Rumple welcome one another into their homes and, eventually, their hearts. </p><p>This month’s prompt was “be our guest.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Take Me Home

* * *

 

 

**The Take Me Home!verse now has[a home of its own.](http://archiveofourown.org/works/7339324/chapters/16671850) **


	2. La Vie En Rose

* * *

 

_And when you speak, angels sing from above_

_Everyday words seem to turn into love songs..._

Edith Piaf, "La Vie En Rose"

*******

 

“How is everything?”

Gold didn’t answer right away. How could he with Belle sitting placidly on his sunlit porch? Her lovely fingers thumbing delicately from her lips to the pages of a French-to-English guide? Her bare legs blooming from beneath a pleated skirt that matched the ribbon in her hair?

She was all chic, chiffon, chignons and Chanel perfume — essentially everything he imagined a young, bold and adventurous Parisian girl would be.

“Oh fine,” he said, pouring two cups of tea. She liked hers with extra honey. “We’re doing fine. How was Versailles?”

It had been a little over three months since his son whisked himself away to France as part of his university's student exchange program. Gold had been little inclined the idea at first: the very notion of Bae spending so much time away from home sparked a hidden fear that he would want to leave for good. But Gold was, if anything, an indulgent father and hadn’t been able to deny his son anything he wished since he was born.

But when he picked up Belle French from her gate in La Guardia, the encounter sparked an entirely different feeling that Gold could not yet articulate. Not fear. No, not that exactly. But something else — something tender, fragile and sweet. Something that made him feel weak-kneed yet courageous all at once.

She was older than Bae — a graduate student studying art history and medieval literature at ENS. She had been hoping to see something of the world outside her country, and to also improve her English which she mourned as being broken at best. Though he certainly didn’t mind in the least: even hearing his name pronounced in her silky accent caused his nerves to dissolve into jelly.

“So Papa, I should be good to come home before the new semester.” That was less than three weeks away. “I hope you didn’t miss me too much.”

Of course he did, and he said so. Though what he didn’t say, as they exchanged their goodbyes, was how much he’d miss his little guest from the City of Light.

And that was because of how much he feared to admit it.

 

 


	3. Just One Night

* * *

  

_Well we know, I’m going away_

_And I wish, I wish it weren’t so_

_So take this wine and drink with me_

_Let’s delay our misery_

Eagle Eye Cherry, "Save Tonight"

*******

 

She finds him sitting outside his apartment, half-drunk on cheap beer, the bottles of which are all lined up next to a pile of cardboard boxes.

This isn’t how Belle usually sees her fearsome landlord.

Gold sets his red-rimmed eyes on her, then barks a wet, sneering sort of laugh. As though, _of_ _course_ , Belle of all people would be standing there, witnessing one of the lowest points of his life.

“She kicked me out,” he slurs by way of explanation. “Don’t have anywhere else to go.” He takes a bottle in his hand and tosses it once or twice in the air. “Bugger me.”

Then suddenly, the glass explodes on the other side of the wall.

Belle flinches. But before she can say or do anything else, Gold buries his face into his hands. His shoulders trembling.

Without thinking, she crouches next to him, gently raising him to his feet. “C’mon. You can stay on my couch tonight.”

If Gold had been sober, she knew he would have argued — and probably bitten her head off to boot. Instead, he looks tired...and sad...and defeated. So he walks with a zombie-like vacancy towards the end of the hall where he manages to stumble into her apartment.

Eventually, he finds his way to the couch and is out like a light the moment his head meets her throw pillows.

When Belle closes the door behind her — having retrieved all of his boxes from the hall — she casts another wary glance at Gold, who looks so much more vulnerable sleeping unawares. It disturbs her to see him so undone. But still, she approaches him quietly, noting his careworn features before pulling the throw blanket up to his shoulders.

He shifts, murmurs. Belle thinks it sounds something like, “Thank you.”

_Of course, I could just be imagining things_ , she thinks as she falls into her own bed that night.

_This is Mr. Gold after all._

 

 


	4. The Lady with the Dog

* * *

 

  _My beloved, oh my sweet_

_All the gifts you have given me_

_The patience and the peace,_

_Cherry blossoms and the candy,_

_I am yours, I am yours_

_For as long, for as long as you will have me_

Bird and the Bee, "Love Letter to Japan"

*******

 

Gold had been watching her for a while now. She was his favorite still-life: the young lady with the dog in the suite across from his.

He had no idea how long she had been a guest at this hotel, but given it had been over a fortnight since his own arrival in Tokyo, he assumed she was intent on staying here for an indeterminate amount of time. Perhaps to visit her family. Perhaps to visit a friend. 

Perhaps to visit a lover.

Vainly, he hoped it wasn’t the latter.

But every morning, shortly before the dawn, he would see this young lady: an errant curl of long brown hair framing a heart-shaped face as she paged through her novels on an iron wrought balcony. Her books were of various lengths and various languages. Her dog — a Samoyed, he later learned — would sit faithfully at her feet until it pawed at her knee for a walk in the gardens below.

There were many times when Gold tried to work up the nerve to speak to her. But somehow, the words — of which he was usually masterful with — died in his throat each time they passed one another. Her polite smiles were enough to render him mute. And truth be told, he hadn’t felt this uncertain towards a woman since before his previous marriage.

As luck would have it, it was _she_ who spoke to him first. Though it was quite by accident, as her dog bolted straight for his table one morning in the dining hall, when it was just the two of them.

“I’m so sorry. Oyakodon is her favorite.”

For once, his words didn’t fail him. Though his brain did need a little of a kick start, especially with her so near. “We...may have something in common then.”

She laughed as he shared his breakfast bowl with her.

In the end, he discovered he had very _much_ in common with not just with the dog...but with the young lady as well.

 

 


	5. The Wedding Guests

* * *

 

_And I was your silver lining_

_As the story goes_

_I was your silver lining_

_But now I'm gold_

Rilo Kiley, "Silver Lining"

*******

 

Of course, Bae would ask his childhood friend, Belle to be his "best man" at his wedding.

And of course, Belle was seated right next to Gold at the head table.

And of course, she would place her hand over his after he said his toast — where he _almost_ managed to stumble through without revealing what a sentimental fool he was.

And of course, his son would one day outgrow him, settle down, live his own life. And though Gold would fight fiercely for his son’s newfound happiness, he could not help feeling as though he were left behind...and left alone, at that.

And of course, Belle would catch the bouquet.

And of course, Gold would catch the garter.

And of course, Bae and Emma would send him winks and jeers as he and Belle danced their dance across the floor, her head tucked under his, as though it always belonged there.

But what Gold could not predict was how Belle casually invited him to her room afterward.

Or how, later that night and until the early morning, she would reveal how much she held him dearly in her heart and soul...and had done so all her life.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This scene was largely inspired by 'The Girl You Left Behind' by Jojo Moyes.


End file.
